Shyamala Miss bustled into the classroom. Her students were eagerly awaiting her lesson.
“In the previous class, we learnt about one of the Mumoorthigal or Trinity of Carnatic Music, Shri Muthuswami Dhikshithar. We will learn about others like him. But before that, let’s have a recap on the Ragams. What is a Janaka Ragam ?”
Easy to understand
“One which has all the seven Swarams in the proper Ascending and Descending order, or in other words — Krama Sampoorna in the Aarohanam and Avarohanam ,” said Rasa.
“Very good Rasa. Now can someone give me the other names of a Janaka Ragam ?” asked Shyamala Miss.
“ Sampoorna, Mela or Melakartha Ragam ,” said Mukund.
“I am happy that all of you have not forgotten what you have learnt. Just like the Melakartha in Carnatic music, Hindusthani music has its equivalent, which is known as Thaats . There are totally 10 Thaats in Hindusthani music, whereas in Carnatic music, we have 72 Melakarthas .
The Melakartha System was first put forward by Raamamaatya in his treatise the Swaramela Kalanidhi , in 1550. So he is considered the father of the Mela System of Raagas. Later on in the 17th Century, Venkatamakhi proposed the new Mela System of Raagas in his treatise, the Chathurdandi Prakaashika . Today, this is known as the Melakartha System.”
“Wow...so much of thought has gone into our music,” said Laya.
“Yes indeed. This music is scientific and has been graded logically, and so, it is easy to understand too. If we can recollect all this in our next class, we can go deeper into the classification and intricacies of our music,” says Shyamala Miss.
“ Mela ... Melam ... Janaka ... Sampoorna
... Melakartha ...” sang the children as bell rang, heralding the end of the class.
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